PROJECT IDES: THE SECOND TRANSNATIONAL PROJECT MEETING -

Another year of work ahead of us.

Dual education is a system of vocational education and training for the pursuit of a profession, which acquires the knowledge, skills and competences necessary for the profession. It is characterized in particular by a close connection between general and vocational theoretical education in secondary vocational school with practical training at a specific employer.

International project IDES (Introduction of Dual Education System and Identification of its Quality) responds to the lack of practice in schools and supports the dual education system. As part of this project, two online meetings of partner organizations from Latvia, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia were held.

At the meeting, the partners presented their current status, what has happened and what still needs to be worked out and planned. The nearest deadlines were set and the partners divided the tasks.

Four countries have also worked on the final version of the Comparative Analysis of Dual Education Systems of the participating countries and it will be possible to proceed to the Slovak version of the document and to control the quality of the output.

Dual education abroad

As part of this project, he conducted a survey of countries and provided valuable information in the field of dual education in other countries.

For all the four Consortium partners the apprenticeships (work-based learning) are relatively recent developments. In Latvia and Slovenia WBL is an alternative pathway to the regular school-based VET program, whereas in Slovakia and Poland the dual scheme seems to be more substantially integrated into the training process

It is worth noting that regarding implementation, in Slovenia the key responsibility is on the employers’ side. In Poland the role of crafts guilds is highly relevant. In Slovakia the Ministry of Education may perform repeated verification of the employer’s competence to perform practical training in the dual education system. However, in Latvia the strength is a well-developed social dialogue ensuring systemic collaboration with the relevant stakeholders.

Financial mechanisms in WBL is a crucial issue. The sources and mechanisms tend to vary, they can be covered by private or public funding, shared public/ private funding, co-financed by EU, by individual companies, chambers, professional associations and other bodies. Also in the case of the four Consortium countries the approaches are quite different. The countries are looking for various incentives to motivate the employers, e.g. certain tax reduction/ exemption (as in case of Poland and Latvia), partially financing chambers for accreditation of training companies and implementation of the apprenticeship system in companies as in the case of Slovenia or a particular contribution to the companies, as in the case of Slovakia

It can be seen that the students’ encouragement to get involved in WBL requires a lot of effort, and these efforts are often linked with the career and occupation guidance measures, for example, the Talent Center is an innovative support in the career guidance of primary school pupils, especially those in their final year of study in Slovakia. In Poland there is a targeted activities to support students in making educational and professional decisions. The school conducts classes related to planning their own educational and professional career. Classes are conducted by the teacher on career counselling. In Slovenia there is a road spectrum of measure sin place: WBL is an obligatory part of every vocational and technical curriculum. Schools motivate students to find a training company. Other activities are: information day, presentation of apprenticeships in secondary schools, counselling and career guidance in primary schools (through tests and personal counselling, counsellors help students make decisions in further education), traveling exhibition of professions.

The next steps in IDES project

As part of the communication tools, Short Videos and an Information Brochure promoting dual education will be created. Subjects are currently being selected to serve as examples of good practice in which short videos will be made.

A structure of three types of brochures aimed at promoting and providing information on dual education for the target groups has been prepared: primary school pupils in their final year of school
(potential vocational pupils with possible participation in the dual education system), companies and secondary vocational schools.

It is currently filled with content by all partners.

The second short online meeting was organized in order to agree on the form and topic of the first training activity. The training will take place at the beginning of September in Slovenia on the topic of dual education in the metallurgical, mechanical engineering sector (automotive industry, agricultural machinery) and on the topic of the training program in the company.